The foreclosure industry is playing the system while homeowners suffer. **Stay tuned for the rest of this three-part series.
Two recent reports, read together, should spark outrage in the country at large and among our political leadership. But no one seems to care anymore. JPMorgan Chase, the country's third largest mortgage lender, confessed that it has overcharged over 4,000 active duty troops on their mortgages and improperly foreclosed upon 14 military families. Only three days before that, reports came out that JPMorgan had just experienced a 47% jump in profits for the previous quarter and 2010 profits reached a record level of $17.4 billion.
The story of the violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act was forced into the open by a Marine fighter pilot. He kept all of his payments current, but due solely to the fault of JPMorgan Chase, his mortgage was placed into default status. His wife reports collection calls (sometimes three a day) coming on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays and even at 3:00 in the morning. It took over two years and the hiring of a lawyer to get JPMorgan to back off and finally admit that he had fully paid his mortgage obligations on time. Certainly no member of the military should have to endure this kind of treatment. But, beyond this, no American homeowner should have to endure those kinds of collection tactics from America's second largest bank. Where is the outrage over these kinds of heavy-handed and abusive tactics?
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The Foreclosure Game
The situation described above fits within a pattern of abuse of American homeowners by JPMorgan Chase and the other major loan servicers that I have experienced in my work as a lawyer representing homeowners in foreclosure. They treat the foreclosure process like a game, seeking to win at any cost without regard to the harm inflicted upon homeowners. Strategic decisions are made, odds of specific outcomes are calculated and bets based upon those odds are placed. Ways to skirt the rules are studied and ignored when referees (judges) are not watching, weak opponents are trampled, cheap shots are taken at opposing parties, and major efforts are made to wear out the opposition as the game winds on. Since the foreclosure industry's pockets are deep, it is more than willing to outspend the opposition to gain an upper hand when it will help win the game.
Lawyers who have the experience and knowledge required to represent homeowners in foreclosure cases are in very short supply. The work does not pay well, if at all, it is very time consuming, and the level of knowledge necessary to do the work well is very high. I have been focusing on this work on a full-time basis for almost three years now. To be competent, I have to be familiar with the Truth in Lending Act ("TILA") and its related Regulation Z, the Homeowner Equity Protection Act ("HOEPA"), the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ("RESPA"), the Maine Consumer Credit Code, the Maine Unfair Trade Practices Act, the United States Bankruptcy Code, the Maine Civil Action Foreclosure Statute, the Maine and Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the constantly changing HAMP loan modification guidelines, and the separate and distinct guidelines of Fannie, Freddie, FHA, VA, and Rural Development, each of which has its own variations on HAMP. In addition, I have to keep current on developing foreclosure case law all over the country on a daily basis. The number of us willing and able do this work is extremely limited when measured against the needs of homeowners for legal assistance -- I hear that fewer than 5% of homeowners looking for legal help are able to obtain it.
Perhaps the largest frustration for me in this work is to experience on a daily basis the games that the servicers play in the foreclosure process. I am constantly frustrated by how much of my time is spent in dealing with the servicers' antics, thus reducing the number of homeowners that I and my colleagues are able to help. What will follow is a two-part explanation of the game playing that we experience in our dealings with the mortgage loan servicers and their lawyers.
Thomas Cox is a retired bank lawyer in Portland, Maine who serves as the Volunteer Program Coordinator for the Maine Attorney’s Saving Homes (MASH) program. He represents homeowners in foreclosure and assists and consults with other volunteer lawyers in providing pro bono legal services to these Maine homeowners.